‘Carousel’ favorites Friday by La. Opera soloists

The fifth season of Louisiana Opera begins at 7 p.m. Friday with a fundraiser for the opera company in Grace Episcopal Church’s Kilbourne Hall in Monroe’s Garden District. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved musical “Carousel” will be presented by members of the Louisiana Opera — professional singers from northeastern Louisiana and throughout the United States.

Tickets are $40 per person and are available at Fiesta Nutrition Center, 1211 North 18th St., and in the VAPA office at the University of Louisiana at Monroe Biedenharn Music Building during university office hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call 342-3247.

Sponsors for this Valentine’s fundraiser are Fiesta Nutrition Center, The News-Star, Vantage Healthcare, Glenwood Regional Medical Center, and ULM VAPA. Food will be generously provided by Cory Bahr of Restaurants Cotton and Nonna. Gift baskets to be raffled off are being provided by Tonore’s Wine Cellar, Janine Hopins, M.D. and Vieux Carré.

Upcoming Louisiana Opera performances

April 1 at 7 p.m. and April 3 at 2 p.m., the Louisiana Opera will present its first full production of the season, the exciting and passionate “Tosca,” by Giacomo Puccini. The opera will be fully costumed and staged and will be sung in Italian with English translated titles above the singers onstage.

Returning by popular demand is the Metropolitan Opera tenor Allan Glassman, who sang the role of Canio in “Pagliacci” in 2014. Also returning is soprano Rebecca Wascoe and Ron Ulen, baritone, both having sung major roles in last year’s “Dialogue of the Carmelites.” Rounding out this cast as the comic priest is bass Bill Bugg, returning to Monroe after starting his singing and teaching career here many years ago.

ULM faculty member Julian Jones and graduate Nathanael Medlin also have important roles in the musical drama. Making an appearance will be members of the outstanding Delta Youth Chorale, conducted and created by their leader Jarrod Richey. The chorus, made up of ULM students and the community, are an important part of this production.

The production team is led by director Mark Ross Clark, with Jeffrey Peterson (from the Baylor University Opera faculty), and pianist Richard Seiler. Margaret Hall is the costumer, while ULM technical director Steven Burnside executes the costume design.

Tickets will be available March 1, and will be $25 per ticket, with student tickets at $10.

The final production of the season will be Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” May 20 and 22 with a professional cast, including Corey McKern, Betsy Uschkrat, and Tyler Smith. Newcomers will be basso John Paul White, soprano Kelly . This outstanding cast includes Claire Vangelisti, Lynn Clark, and Julian Jones. Richard Seiler is the pianist, while director Mark Ross Clark will stage the performance, which will be sung in German (with subtitles) and the dialogue will be spoken in English. This music-drama is a family favorite for all ages.